* Suitable for grades 9-12 Jennifer Donnelly's book Revolution has made quite an impact this year in young adult literature. After learning about the outstanding reviews and awards Revolution received, I wanted to find out why this was one of the best YA books of 2010. I put all of my other reading aside and entered the fascinating worlds of Andi Alpers and Alexandrine Paradis.
Andi Alpers lives in modern day Brooklyn, New York. Andi attends a prestigious private school, is an extremely talented musician, and her dad is a Nobel Prize winning scientist. One would assume that Andi is living in a dream world. Unfortunately, her world is far from perfect. When Andi's father demands that she spends her winter break with him in Paris while he is on a business trip, she can only think about when she can go home. If it wasn't for Andi stumbling across the diary of Alexandrine Paradis, who was an aspiring actress and a friend to the son of Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI, she would have been on the next plane home. But there was something in Alex's diary that struck a chord with Andi. What could two girls centuries apart have in common? Find out how love, forgiveness, death, and the human condition transcend time.
Even though Revolution is more suitable for high school students, the story about how Jennifer Donnelly came across an article from 1999 that instigated what has become a fascinating piece of historical fiction, could be shared with students in grades 6-8. We never know where our inspiration may come from.
Learn more about what inspired Jennifer Donnelly's book Revolution.